A Winter Whammy
Monday, January 5th, 2009
The photo in today’s blog is one of the common cold virus. Talk about change, these critter must hold some kind of Olympic record for the speed of their reproduction. Multiply and Conquer!
And they’re very successful at it too! Stats indicate that most adults in North America are invaded by one of this family of viruses between 2-4 times per year, on average. Young kids get even more of them.
My time has come again. The sneezing started last evening and by 3am I was too uncomfortable with congestion to stay in bed so I’ve been lounging around all day, sneezing, coughing, and feeling awful. No trips to the harbour today. No new photos to post.
I’ve spent the day re-watching episodes of Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. I’m totally hooked on this series. Just before dinner I watched the wonderful musical episode, “Once More with Feeling.” Not wonderful in a “Hills are Alive” kind of way — wonderful for its creative insight and penetrating lyrics. Some wonderful singing from the cast doesn’t hurt.
This was followed up by “Tabula Rasa” in which Willow, against her own vow and Tara’s warnings, tries to use magic to help Buffy forget her time spent in a heaven dimension, so she can adjust to this one. At the end of Season Five, Buffy died selflessly in “The Gift.” It was perfect. It was noble. There was closure. It was also thought, for some time, it would be the final TV season.
But after FOX cancelled the series, HBO picked it up for another two seasons, and Buffy had to be brought back. It’s not been an easy return to Sunnydale. To Buffy, it seems like hell after where she’s been. She’s lost her way, just as she lost her mother in Season Five. She has to take care of Dawn, her “sister”, and there are money problems. Her boyfriends are gone. Life is bleak.
From this point on it gets bleaker. To me the entire story arc of Season Six is an allegory representing depression. Depression leads to despair, and some very bad choices. Willow and Tara split up, Willow increasingly turns to the dark side, Giles has gone home to England, the vampire Spike still loves Buffy, and Buffy, the superhero, is as vulnerable to depression and despair as any of us.
Makes me glad all I have is a cold.